Pesky call rules not targeting any specific company, says Telecom Regulatory Authority Chairman RS Sharma

TRAI chief sought to clear the air around the regulator’s ongoing faceoff with Apple not allowing TRAI’s Do Not Disturb app on the iOS platform New Delhi: Telecom regulator TRAI on Tuesday said its rules on curbing pesky calls do not target any specific player or operating system, and advocated that consumers must have the freedom to report unsolicited commercial communications or complain about them to the sector regulator. Defending the recent rules on pesky calls also called unsolicited commercial communications regulations, that has come under criticism from certain quarters within the industry, TRAI Chairman RS Sharma asserted that “the regulation has nothing to do with a specific company”. Responding to various queries on a live Q&A session on Twitter, Sharma sought to clear the air around the regulator’s ongoing faceoff with Apple not allowing TRAI’s Do Not Disturb app on the iOS platform, and the larger implication of its pesky call regulations for the US tech titan. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India pesky call regulations issued last week says that “every access provider shall ensure, within six months’ time, that all smartphone devices registered on its network support the permissions required for the functioning” of apps to report such calls.